Community members gathered early Monday morning, Jan. 19, at The Association in downtown Montrose for a free breakfast and opening ceremony marking the city’s second annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, a day organizers emphasized was meant not just for reflection, but for action.
The event, organized by Our Town Matters and the MLK Day Montrose board, served as the kickoff to a full day of activities honoring the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., including a march through downtown, educational discussions, film screenings, children’s programming, and community service projects.
Local leaders and community advocates addressed the crowd during the morning program, including Montrose Mayor Dave Frank, Montrose County Commissioner Sue Hansen, Haven House Director of Resource Development Nichole Guest, Buckaroos Pizza owner Kenny LaJoy, and Our Town Matters CEO Tonya Maddox, who helped launch Montrose’s first communitywide MLK Day observance last year.
“This is only our second year,” Maddox said, “but this day has already become something meaningful for Montrose.”
‘It requires courage to act’
Commissioner Sue Hansen focused her remarks on King’s moral courage and commitment to nonviolence, tracing his life from childhood through his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement.
“From a young age, he had to move and struggle with the challenges of racial discrimination, inequality, and its impact on his immediate family and community,” Hansen said. “He saw it firsthand. He watched others experience it. He felt it himself.”
Hansen highlighted King’s role in events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Greensboro movement, and the marches that led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“When you see an injustice anywhere in our society, it is one thing to notice it and an entirely different thing to do something about it,” Hansen said. “It requires courage to take action.”
She urged attendees to consider their own responsibility to respond to injustice without violence.
“There’s nothing wrong with feeling anger,” Hansen said. “However, everything is wrong with violence. What can I do to make my community better? What can I do that may require courage?”
Mayor issues MLK Day proclamation
Mayor Dave Frank echoed those themes, urging Montrose residents to respond to division with restraint and compassion.
“When we are faced with hate, respond with love,” Frank said. “When we are faced with anger, respond with calm. When we are faced with violence, respond with peace.”
Frank formally proclaimed Jan. 19 as Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the City of Montrose, calling on residents to honor King’s legacy through service and civic engagement.
“Dr. King’s enduring legacy reminds us that the fight for justice is not yet finished,” Frank said. “Each of us bears a responsibility to carry forward his work.”
Service shaped by personal experience
Business owner Kenny LaJoy spoke about how service shaped his life after being adopted as a child, crediting family members, educators, medical professionals, and community members who supported him.
“All of these acts of service toward me inspired me to dedicate myself to serving others through my business,” LaJoy said.
He connected those experiences to King’s commitment to lifting up the unseen and underserved.
“MLK dedicated himself to lifting up those unseen and gave voice to those unserved,” LaJoy said. “His message brought people from all backgrounds together to begin a process of truth-speaking, reconciliation, and seeing our neighbors beyond the color of their skin.”
‘Justice looks like dignity’
One of the most powerful responses from the audience followed remarks by Nichole Guest, who shared her personal journey from a life of stability to homelessness following a traumatic event, and eventually to her work with families at Haven House.
“I can assure you, I lost everything,” Guest said. “I’ve never felt so low, so broken, without hope. Above all, I felt unworthy of being heard.”
Guest said King’s vision of the “beloved community” remains unfinished.
“Not when families in our own communities don’t have a safe place to sleep,” she said. “Not when working families can’t afford food, health care, and rent at the same time.”
Drawing from her decade of work with unhoused families, Guest emphasized dignity over charity.
“What most people want isn’t charity,” she said. “It’s dignity. It’s a chance to be seen, heard, and respected.”
She challenged attendees to move beyond sympathy toward action.
“It does not require perfection,” Guest said. “It requires participation. Dr. King didn’t ask us to be saints. He asked us to be brave.”
A ‘day on,’ not a day off
Maddox closed the program by placing the holiday in historical context, noting that Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service.
“It’s a day on, not a day off,” Maddox said. “A day meant to improve communities and advance social justice.”
She described the long fight to establish the holiday and emphasized King’s global influence.
“Today, Dr. King is commemorated in more than 100 nations,” Maddox said. “His vision was never limited to one group or one country.”
Maddox challenged the audience to carry King’s work forward locally.
“When I think of Dr. King, I think of a man who stood up and took his place, not knowing where it would lead,” she said. “If not you, then who?”
March and
Humanitarian
Awards
Following the ceremony, participants gathered outside The Association and began a peaceful march down Main Street to Centennial Plaza, escorted by the Montrose Police Department. Marchers carried signs, waved American flags, and sang songs as they moved through downtown.
During the morning program, the MLK Day Montrose board also presented Humanitarian Awards to several individuals and organizations recognized for their service to the community: Rachel Zelazny, founder of Living on a Prayer Co.; Ricardo Perez of the Hispanic Affairs Project; The Shepherd’s Hand; and the Montrose County Sheriff’s Posse.
Additional MLK Day activities continued throughout the day, including community discussions, children’s programming, film screenings, and service projects, reinforcing the message repeated throughout the morning — that honoring King’s legacy requires continued action.
“As we leave today,” Hansen told the crowd, “no matter how small the effort may be, we can do it nonviolently and civilly. Let’s all be Martin Luther King Jr. today — and every day.”
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.
